News 2006: Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain

13th August

It was a bittersweet weekend for Motorbase Performance in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton (12/13 August). While Michael Caine and Phil Quaife each claimed two podium finishes, the weekend proved a disaster for Tim Harvey as two non-finishes dealt his 2006 championship hopes a major blow.

"That's a good start to the weekend," said Caine after setting some excellent times in pre-race testing on Friday. He continued that excellent pace by setting second fastest time in qualifying, just 0.079s slower than Danny Watts. For the second weekend running, Michael was the biggest challenge to Watts in the battle for pole.

In the opening race, Caine was the only driver to challenge Watts as they quickly pulled clear of the pack. However, their advantage was negated when a safety car period was needed towards the end of the race, but Caine made certain of second to record his best result of the season to date.

"The safety car hurt me a bit as it allowed Damien Faulkner to catch up," said Caine. But I could see where he was quicker around the lap and I knew I could defend second place. It's good to be starting Sunday's race from second on the grid!"

After a mixed day during pre-race testing on Friday, Quaife was back on top form in qualifying on Saturday morning. "I'm much happier to be back at the front of the pro-am class," said Phil after qualifying fastest in the category. "But it's very tight between five of us in the class."

In the first race, Quaife battled against the conditions and drove a mature race to finish second in the pro-am category. However, he acknowledged that the race had been very difficult. "I couldn't see a thing in the early laps due to the spray. I wasn't even using full throttle on the straight as the conditions were so bad," he reported. "I just wanted to get the car home and score some points and it really played into my hands as the race developed."

Harvey arrived at Snetterton just seven points behind championship leader Damien Faulkner, and had a successful pre-race test day on Friday. Then, on Saturday morning, he qualified third fastest despite a dramatic moment. "After my first run in qualifying I thought I could go a bit faster. But then the throttle stuck open at Coram and I had to spin the car to avoid an accident."

In the opening race, Tim was running fourth and challenging VIP racer Rob Huff. As Tim challenged into Russell Corner, the cars touched and Tim was put out of the race with damage to the front of his car. He was gutted over the incident, feeling that Huff had blocked him unnecessarily and the result was a major blow to his championship hopes.

Sunday's race ran in bright and dry conditions, but Harvey was in trouble from the start as an electrical fault caused his engine to lapse onto five cylinders. "I could feel the problem on the parade lap, but I started the race to see what would happen," said Harvey. But the fault persisted and he retired to the pits after two laps. "It was pointless carrying on and it's a real shame for the championship," said Harvey after dropping some way behind championship leader Faulkner.

Caine, meanwhile, had another excellent race on his 37th birthday and chased Watts all the way to the flag. At the same time, Caine fended off Faulkner to take another excellent second place in his best weekend of the season. "We're happy with two seconds," said Caine. "Damien was a bit quicker out of the Esses, but I was quicker through the Bomb Hole and that meant I was able to pull the gap out again."

It was also a great race for Quaife, who led the pro-am category throughout to score his eighth pro-am win from 14 races. However, Quaife could never relax as Sam Edwards was a constant threat. "I'm over the moon to win, but he was always on my tail," said Quaife after spraying the champagne on the podium.